In
terms of playing wiseass, sardonic, and disarmingly charismatic goofballs,
Owen Wilson easily has the market cornered.

Although he has played
relatively straight and serious roles in the past (many people forget his
participation in ANACONDA, THE MINUS MAN, and BEHIND ENEMY LINES), Wilson’s
true gift is his distinct knack for playing comic misfits that are
inevitably likeable. Sure, he does not have a considerable amount of range
(I can’t ever imagine seeing him in, say, a period film), but he definitely
makes up for it in terms of his skill for forging affable doofuses. He
talks a fast talk, but is so laid back and gentle with his outlook that it's
difficult to not find him agreeable.

Wilson is such a winning screen presence not
so much for what he says or what he does on screen, but rather
for his overall tone. He does not engage in scene after scene of
non-stop physical, slapstick gags (which he can do well), nor is he a vulgar
and scatological actor that needs various four and twelve letter expletives
to garner chuckles. No, he is affable and appealing for the way he conducts
himself on camera. His comic timing is usually spot on and precise, but
what really separates him from other funny actors is in his overall
presence. With his wavy mane of blond, Californian surfer hair, those
mischievous eyes and his giddy and sly smile, Wilson puts people in stitches
by his undercranked vitality and energy alone. Sure, he’s a motor mouth
that may not know when to shut up, by his enthusiasm and giddiness is kind
of infectious.

His comic resume alone is noteworthy. He was
in one of the funniest comedies of last year,THE WEDDING CRASHERS, which played up to his obvious strengths. His
role of Ned Plimpton in 2004’sTHE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU
was quietly hilarious. He made
himself an overnight star with SHANGHAI NOON and SHANGHAI KNIGHTS, where his
verbal wit and wordplay were an effective counterpoint to the physical
comedy of co-star Jackie Chan. I especially liked him as the narcissistic
male model opposite Ben Stiller in the underrated 2001 howlfest ZOOLANDER,
where his penchant for cocky irreverence had no boundaries. In that film he
played second billed to Stiller, but he often walked away with it’s most
raucously funny lines, like, “I wasn't like every other kid, you know, who
dreams about being an astronaut, I was always more interested in what bark
was made out of on a tree.”

His newest comedy, YOU, ME AND DUPREE,
highlights and embellishes Wilson’s capricious comic liveliness. In the
film he plays a character that – in another lesser actor’s hands –
would be considered such an unmitigated slacker and loser that finding
anything to like about him would be increasingly difficult. His part of Dupree
should command our scorn and contempt, not amusement. He is a nuisance in
every sense of the word; a wild and rambunctious force of nature that can be
damaging if one allows him to get too close. He is hapless beyond the
conventional definition of the word. He has no girlfriend, no sincere
ambitions in life, no prospects, and he does not even have a job (in one of the
film’s funniest scenes, he turns down a job because the employer works his
staff on Columbus Day). He’s the kind of social degenerate that likes to
sleep in until noon, watch a lot of TV (HBO is his favourite), eat buffalo
wings until he makes a mess of the toilet, and engages in intimate acts with
women that could be aptly labeled as bizarre. He claims to have a job (“If
one can call living a job, then I do that to it’s fullest everyday”),
but he really has no future. Yes, Dupree is a real bum.

But, in Wilson’s hands, he’s such a
good-natured, sweet, and oblivious man that it’s hard to get angry with him
even when he is unwillingly destructive to both himself and those around
him. This is part of the modest success that YOU, ME AND DUPREE has
going for it. It is a small miracle when a film presents a character that
really is bad news for everyone around him (and is lazy to the point of
being inert) and instead makes him amiable and approachable. Make no
mistake about it, Wilson is able to get some serious mileage of the dippy
charm he exudes in Dupree and, for the most part, he is able to coast
successful through the film. I guess that the main issue with this comedy
is that not even Wilson’s dependable and persistent comic vigor can rescue
YOU, ME AND DUPREE out of the realm of contrivance and witless formulas.
The film is funny when Wilson is on screen, but its overall story feels like
spar parts of other better comedies. This is a shame, because with Wilson's
irresistible charisma throughout the film, it sure never rises above a level
of a forgettable and disposable entertainment.

Even more shocking is the sheer amount of
Oscar nominated actors working in the film. Newlyweds Molly (Oscar
nominated Kate Hudson), and Carl (Oscar nominated Matt Dillon)
have just recently married and are about to enjoy a wonderful honeymoon.
She’s an elementary school teacher that comes from a rich family. Her
father (played by – I am not kidding – two time Oscar winner Michael
Douglas) has given Carl a very prestigious job at his global design firm.
Yes, life appears to be good for the happy couple, that is until Carl
discovers that his best man (and friend) Randy Dupree has not only lost his
job, but also his house and even his car. Dupree is homeless and down on
his luck and the good guy in Carl decides to help his buddy out. What are
friends for?

Obviously forgetting the first tenant to a
happy marriage (happy wife, happy life), Carl invites Dupree over to
stay at his new home without consulting his better half. Molly begrudgingly
agrees, only after Carl assures her that Dupree is a good guy that needs to
get on his feet after some rough times. “He'll be gone in a few days,” Carl
tells his wife, “or maybe a week....or more.” More eerily prophetic words
have rarely been spoken in a film.

Predictably, Dupree does not get his life
back in order quite so fast and decides to take advantage of the situation
and freeloads off of Carl and Molly as much as possible. It takes a matter
of about…oh…one day before Dupree turns into a qualified
houseguest from hell. His laundry list of social causalities pile up
with such a rapid pace. He sleeps in the nude on the couple’s new and
beloved leather couch; he stinks up the bathroom something fierce after
overeating (“I will never eat buffalo wings again”); he erases the couple's
message on their answering machine and puts his own announcement on it; he
“upgrades” their cable service to playback all of the premium channels; he
interrupts the couple having sex so he can use their bedroom bathroom (after
he sabotaged another bathroom in the home); he is caught masturbating to
Carl’s secret porn collection; he invites over strippers for a guy’s night
with all of his buddies; and he finally has lurid sex in the couple’s living
room that utilizes a particular spreadable product that is normally used for
sandwiches. Geez, you’d think he’d even go as far as setting the damn house
on fire. Oh wait…he does that too.

Predictably (I use that term again), both
Carl and Molly get so infuriated that they kick Dupree out of their house.
The most puzzling thing about this whole arrangement is how utterly
unnecessary it is. Clearly, the couple could have (a) very easily kicked
Dupree out after a day considering his antics or (b) could have
easily paid for a motel for him for a week or so considering the wealth that
they have at their disposal. Of course, in films like these the two
main characters of the wife and husband are more plot contrivances than real
people (any real married couple would have sent Dupree packing instantly),
but alas in a movie these people go out of their way to find reasons for
Dupree to stay. Amazingly, even after Dupree has more than wore out his
welcome (and nearly destroyed their home) the couple decides to let him back
in after he has – yet again – fallen on bad times.

YOU, ME AND DUPREE was a much more winning
and enjoyable comedy when it was called WHAT ABOUT BOB? Both films are
strikingly similar. Both have likeable simpletons that manage to infiltrate
a family and cause a lot of unintended chaos and havoc at many turns. Yet,
in WHAT ABOUT BOB Bill Murray played a lovable and childlike character that
was so jovial and sociable that most of the members of the family could not
find a reason to tell him to take a hike (except for the father, played
memorably by Richard Dreyfuss). In WHAT ABOUT BOB Murray’s persistent
presence within the family turns the husband into a paranoid and obsessive
neurotic. In DUPREE Wilson should have no reason whatsoever to be
granted continued access to Carl and Molly’s home. Soon (just like in BOB),
Dupree’s cozy and platonic closeness that he nurtures with Molly slowly
drives Carl crazy. In an odd way, could you blame him?

Whereas DUPREE suffers from some real gaps in
credibility and has an uncompromising narrative, the film does have some
genuinely funny moments. I enjoyed nuggets of Michael Douglas (who is good
at low key, underplayed comedy) playing the possessive dad who seems to
dislike Carl an awful lot. His distrust in him manifests in many amusing
scenes, as with one where he asks him to hyphenate his name instead of
making his daughter to do so. He also makes some very peculiar requests of
Carl, as in one incredibly hilarious moment where he hands Carl a brochure
that says “Vasectomies and Me.” Dillon, who can be a strong comedic
presence (he was brilliantly sleazy in 1998's THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT
MARY),
plays it straighter here until he is taken to the brink by Dupree’s antics.
Kate Hudson adequately facilitates the meager needs of her role as the
wife. Co-star Seth Rogan (who was remarkably funny inTHE 40 YEAR-OLD VIRGIN) has many
riotous bits as Carl and Dupree’s friend, who seems to perceive his marriage
not as a loving and mutually democratic relationship, but as being
institutionalized.

Perhaps what could have made the film more
entertaining and fresh is if it took a darker vein. The film is awfully
saccharine with most of the relationships and when the final third (which
showcases Carl’s descent into suspicious madness) goes a bit more for the
jugular for laughs, it’s a bit too late. Maybe if the film played more as a
wicked black comedy where Dupree was a presence that would not go away even
after repeated attempts by the couple to get rid of him then the film could
have had more comic bite. Dupree is an absolute home wrecker, but he’s so
nice and delightful that he’s never really a threatening presence. The film
is almost as easy-going as Wilson’s acting, which allows for it to
degenerate into something too sentimental and – ultimately –
uninspired for it’s own good.

Wilson’s performance as a slacker-infused
reject that has a heart of gold despite the carnage he unleashes keeps YOU,
ME AND DUPREE staying afloat for its 108 minutes. When he’s around –
parading around with that quintessential Wilsonian swagger and disarming
charm – then the film emerges as satisfying and enjoyable. Yet, all of
Wilson’s comic tenacity can’t keep YOU, ME AND DUPREE from being anything
more than a watchable - but unremarkable and insubstantial - farce.
The story has cannibalized elements from other past comedies that have
worked – on their levels – infinitely better. Wilson plays a trickster and
goofball sage with a man-child twinkle in his eyes better than any actor,
but his winning persona can’t save the film from feeling as tired and
recycled as a sitcom. The laughs are sporadic, the story and emotions
dramatically false, and the tone too sugar-coated. YOU, ME AND DUPREE
elicits some decent chuckles, but it is not the laugh riot it desperately
yearns to be.